Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Last week U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx stood on the House floor and called the case behind Matthew Shepard's 1998 murder "a hoax." A short time later she wrote a letter apologizing for the comment to Shepard's mother.

Foxx's comments came during debate on a hate-crimes bill that bore the name of Shepard, who was brutally attacked in Wyoming and left hanging on a fence to die. Foxx said he was killed during a robbery, not because he was gay.

Judy Shepard was in the House gallery when Foxx made her comments.

In an interview with a Winston-Salem TV station, Foxx said she "simply chose a poor word."

According to today's Winston-Salem Journal, she said she sent a handwritten note to Shepard's mother. She told the station, "if I said anything that offended her, I certainly apologize for it and know that she's hurting, and I would never do anything to add to that."

The paper said the Matthew Shepard Foundation confirmed that Judy Shepard received Foxx's note, but declined to comment.

"We are not commenting any further on Rep. Foxx's remarks on the House floor, or anything that was contained in a letter," Logan Shepard, the foundation's communications associate, told the paper. "Everything that has been said already, is enough. We are trying to focus on the positive, which is, that the (hate-crimes bill) has been passed onto the Senate."

24 comments:

Jim Grigg
said...

Virginia Foxx, what a disgusting attempt to "back out" of your inflammatory rhetoric! And to add insult to injury, you contact Judy Shepard with a "personally written note". Bad choice of words, my a**! Unacceptable!!!! Kudos to the Sheppard Foundation to remain above the fray.

I guess if I were to kill someone because I was committing a robbery, that makes it "more OK" than if I kill them because of their race/sexual orientation/sex. "nothing personal...strictly business". Hate crime legislation is a sham. ALL murders are hate crimes. No one deserves more attention just because of the circumstances.

All you people who say hate crime laws are redundant to murder laws appear clueless about the history for the hate crime laws. Originally, these federal laws were enacted so that the federal government can get involved and prosecute a crime that happens in a jurisdiction where the local law enforcement wouldn't prosecute, i.e. no prosecution for lynching a black man in the deep South. With the exception of Washington DC, which is considered federal territory not part of a state, murder is governed by state law. Federal hate crime laws ensure that killings of a protected class will be prosecuted regardless of whether the local "good 'ol boys" will do it or not.

It's true. Despite the good intentions of some, this bill is a sly attempt on the part of certain groups to infringe upon the Bill of Rights. I don't want to live in a country where people can be prosecuted for expressing unpopular views, and that's exactly what such legislation entails. Beware.

Nice ad hominem, and way to argue by hyperbole. I have no problem with jailing murderers. But the bill makes it illegal to say things with which many would take issue. If you give the government the power to squelch speech that's deemed hateful, who gets to determine what qualifies? Better hope it's not the opposition. Such power is begging to be abused. Support the Bill of Rights. Reject thought crimes legislation.

Even if Hate crimes legislation was passed so the federal government could prosecute cases the local governments wouldn't, doing it through a federal "hate" crime is not the way to do it. All crime is crime.

to all posters who think this legilation is a waste of time- The reason for its creation is to ensure that killers don't get away. By having a hate-crime added to the list of offenses , prosecutors have more options to make sure these guys do time. WHen prosecutors bring gang memebers to hjail they usually have a plethora of charges against them. That way, if they get cleared of one charge, chances are they'll do time on another. Remeber the reason Capone did time was not bec ause of murder, pohibiton violations or rackteering----it was tax evasion.

A "love crime' you dolt, is kiling someone because they won't be with you, therefore you won't let them be with someone else. I LOVE YOU to DEATH. Literally.

And I find Virgina Foxx absolutely repulsive. It's disturbing that she represents anyone. And I called her office and told her so. Or rather, I told her lackey that answered the phone, since she doesn't actually speak to the people she represents. Half baked apologies don't sit well with me either. It doesn't seem that she's sorry at all, she's sorry she got blasted for being a bigot.

A prime example of why some people should not have a voicebox! This man was someone's son, grandson and friend. Point blank end of story! Virginia Foxx I think it is time for you to step down now. Knowledge is power and when you don't know what you are talking about you have none. Cheers to the Shepard Foundation as they continue to build awareness on local and national level. We need more hate laws!

It's unfortunate that she responded that way, but she is correct. He wasn't murdered because of his preferred bed mates. His death was a tragedy, to be sure, but it's equally disgraceful to promote an organization or political cause by lying about the cause of his death. MADD or DARE would be more appropriate organizations.

Moron, maroon, bi@tch, dolt, all insults hurled by those who support the thought crimes legislation. Yet, I see no insults from those who oppose it. Interesting, why is it that people on the left seem so inclined to stoop to personal attacks? It's a pattern I see a lot on comments sections. Those who can't support their arguments with facts and logic often fall back on insults.